Coyote vs ACME Or How Sisyphus Got The Boulder Up The Hill

RJ Writing Ink’s Story behind Coyote vs ACME, Part 5: Spoiler Review

Eh, what’s up, Doc? I’m RJ Writing Ink, writer for The Game of Nerds, here with the final part of my series on the story of Coyote vs ACME. Now, I had already spent the last three years covering news about the movie and its fight to be seen. I had already finished my review of the film, and had no intention of revisiting it any further. However, as I was doing that, I realized something: I wasn’t ready to end things just yet. I still had so much left to say about the film. So to give myself closure (and with the boss’s blessing), I wrote this series. Actually, that’s not quite true. I originally wanted to make this into a book, but the boss said that it would be better suited as a series of articles. She was right! I’ll let someone else make a documentary about this whole thing.

Thus, to wrap everything up with a nice bow, here we are: my spoiler review for Coyote vs ACME. Or, how the modern Sisyphus won his fight against the gods.

They went deep into the past with Dr. Lorre.

The film opens with a flashback to 1992 at an undisclosed ACME factory. There, we see Dr. Lorre, a little-known character who was made as a tribute to famous actor Peter Lorre, hurriedly trying to get a message out to the world about something. We don’t know what it is, but from the way he’s panicking, we can tell that it’s something serious. That fact is only made more evident by the fact that security is actively trying to stop his escape.

Speaking of which, I loved the escape attempt. The way Dr. Lorre uses products meant to work on the physics of the Looney Tunes is a nice touch. In the end, though, it proves to be for naught, as he is captured and imprisoned in a portable hole.

Another Failed Coyote Attempt

The film then cuts to the present day, where we see Wile E. Coyote doing what he always does: trying to catch the Road Runner with ACME products. Sadly for him, the rules of Chuck Jones remain in full effect, as these products continually fail on him and leave him in great pain. Being a cartoon, though, none of the injuries ever stick or cause permanent damage, so it shouldn’t matter. Should it?

A major change that the film makes to the original short story is its focus on the type of pain that the Coyote goes through. Rather than deconstructing how expensive and painful his continued injuries are thanks to ACME, a big theme of the film is the damage done that we can’t physically see. The emotional and psychological damage that the repeated failures inflict on Wile E. As someone who has had to look after his own mental well-being, I know just how seriously that kind of pain should be taken. And as Wile E. returns to his cave after another day of failure, the film does a fantastic job of showing us just how miserable he is. His eyes are bloodshot from stress, and he has bags under them from lack of sleep. He’s covered in injuries from his various mishaps. He has an entire cup filled with his teeth, for crying out loud! That’s not funny; that’s just plain sad.

As Wile E. sits in his cave and looks over his countless failed plans, you can just tell that the guy is at the end of his rope. He’s tried to catch his nemesis for decades, and he’s either always failed or, on rarer occasions, ended up in a position where he can’t benefit from his success. It’s genuinely heartbreaking to see this symbol of resilience and determination hitting his limit, and this isn’t just a one-time thing meant to make us feel sympathy for him. As we see throughout the film, a lot of Tunes have had to deal with this. And it feels a lot less funny when you consider the anguish they experience gets laughed off by Humans.

Sisyphus decides to rebel.

The film then gives us the convenient commercial for the law firm of Avery, Maltese, and Jones with our other protagonist, Kevin Avery, played by Will Forte. And I have to tell you, I love the look on Wile E’s face as he realizes that the majority of his failures are not solely his fault; it’s the fault of the gods, ACME. I know calling them gods sounds like a stretch, but when you stop and consider how much power big corporations have over people these days, it seems a little less crazy.

And so, we have our Sisyphus decide that he doesn’t have to put up with this anymore, leaves his field of punishment, and heads to the most important place in the world for Looney Tunes fans: Albuquerque.

Wile E. and Will Forte worked so well together.

I already talked about it in my review and in previous posts in this series, but at this point, I have to mention just how well Will Forte’s Avery and Wile E. work together. Both are kind of Sisyphean characters, as they are given impossible tasks. For Wile E., it’s catching the Road Runner. For Avery, it was the pressure of living up to his talent as a lawyer. He’s more than capable of doing it, but he got so jaded from the constant losses that he stopped trying. He’s a version of Sisyphus who has let the universe break him, and as a result, he’s only going through the motions of life. Until, that is, Wile E. comes into it.

From the moment that Wile E. brings his chaos into the law firm, he begins driving Avery up the wall. Wile E. refuses to give up on his apparent vendetta against ACME, aka the gods of this story. And when Buddy Crane, played by John Cena, offers them $50k to drop the case, we saw how Wile E. responded. He tore up the check, poured gasoline on it, and set it on fire. And the look on his face as he did so was priceless. That is the kind of smug shoulder shrug that only comes from someone who has nothing left to lose. And people tend to be at their most dangerous when they have nothing left to lose.

The first day of the trial goes about as well as you would think: horribly. The judge is clearly biased against Wile E. due to his toon antics, Avery fumbles his opening speech, and Wile E. almost sets the place on fire. But then things start to get interesting when a mystery informant (It’s Bugs. They don’t even try to hide his voice) leads Avery and his niece, Paige, to a break in the case, in the form of Daffy Duck.

Daffy Duck was TRAUMATIZED by ACME

Now, remember what I said earlier about the mental trauma all those injuries can inflict on a toon. For that matter, remember the first part of my series, where I said the short story by Frazier was a deconstructive parody? This is where the deconstruction begins. As Avery and Paige learn, Daffy is now living in a mental hospital for the looniest tunes around. Now, Daffy has always been looney; it’s in his name! But this isn’t your average craziness. This is the kind of crazy that you get when someone goes through something traumatic. For as soon as they mention the name ACME, I kid you not, you can see Daffy having a PTSD attack! I could practically hear “Ride of the Valkyries” playing in his head as he starts going nuts. But he does manage to give them the package, the same one that Dr. Lorre was trying to get out in the prologue. From it, we learn about Project Sisyphus.

Now, keep in mind, this is still the Looney Tunes we are talking about. There’s always going to be some sort of humor driving everything forward. But that doesn’t stop the film from taking Project Sisyphus as seriously as it can, especially when the group starts getting threatened by cartoonish weapons, like giant boulders, runaway trains, and big bombs. And keep in mind, Wile E. can shrug these things off thanks to toon physics. Avery and Paige cannot. It shows how bad these kinds of things can get when there are real consequences.  

Why people admire Wile E. Coyote

Now, the whole thing leads to Avery and Wile E. bonding, with the former opening up to the latter about his own failures and envying Wile E. for his goal. In response, we get one of the most meaningful moments of the entire film. We see Wile E. repeatedly try to jump across a canyon, only to fail every single time. Yet he keeps trying until he finally gets across.

And this is where I think the film and the people who made it demonstrate just how well they understand Wile E. Coyote. He knows that what he is trying to do in life might be impossible. He knows that the universe doesn’t want to let him win. But he keeps doing it anyway. Why? Because he knows that he just keeps trying until the universe goofs up, allowing him to win. He refuses to give the gods the satisfaction of seeing him break. It’s not just pride or ego; Wile E. understands that giving up would mean he truly loses. That is why Wile E. is considered such a great example of determination, and if more people had that kind of willpower, imagine what the world could be like. It sounds impossible, but like I said earlier in this series, doing the impossible is kind of what we do as a species.

Of course, the whole thing then gets undercut with the big twist: this is just another plan by Wile E. to catch the Road Runner. He wants to get him on the witness stand so he can finally catch him, not caring about the consequences. This eventually leads to a big falling out between him and Avery when Avery reveals he lied about the Road Runner coming. Avery, in turn, calls Wile E. out for his inability to let go and how selfish he is being. It’s a heartbreaking scene, especially when we look at Wile E.’s plans and see how he changed them so he and Avery could enjoy eating the Road Runner together. The poor Coyote had finally found a friend, and this happened. But Avery isn’t wrong. It’s gotten much bigger than either of them.

Project Sisyphus is PURE EVIL!

So, in the midst of all this, we learn just what Project Sisyphus is. Back in the 90s, Dr. Lorre worked to make products that would help Toons cope with their unique relationship with reality. But then Foghorn Leghorn came in and repurposed everything. He started forcing Toons to test dangerous inventions, not for themselves, but for Humans. The project would use the data collected to improve their Human products and reap the profits. And the trauma that they experienced would end up driving many of the test subjects crazy! The worst part is that they began sending these defective dohickeys into the wild to keep testing them. Every last one of the things that Wile E. bought from ACME was always meant to fail.

That has to be some of the diabolical, villainous behavior you can see in the modern day. And, frankly, it’s taking Chuck Jones’s Wile E. Coyote to the most villainous extreme possible. Remember, one of the rules that Jones established for Wile E. and the Road Runner is that Wile E. always has to use ACME products, and that they must always fail. It’s one thing for it to happen for the sake of the funny. But this? This is just pure corporate malice. And the worst part? It isn’t that far off from reality.

The film that became meta AF

When this film was first written, it was simply supposed to be a commentary on big business these days. A means to talk about how much power big corporations have gained over everyday people, with no fixed target in mind. But then, Davis Zaslav made the film even more relevant. He tried to take a film that was already finished, had gotten nothing but glowing reviews, and that people had worked for years of their lives on, and throw it aside like trash. Like it, and the people who worked on it, didn’t matter. But it does matter. And when Crane manages to get the case ejected from court, Avery gives a passionate speech telling everyone about Project Sisyphus and how big companies abuse their power over their customers. It’s a very meta moment where the entire thing could easily apply to the real world. I think that’s ultimately why people like me blew up at Warner Bros. We were tired of getting taken advantage of, and wanted to make a stand.

Ultimately, Avery’s speech gets the case moved directly to Washington, D.C., in front of Congress. And that’s where we get the falling out I mentioned earlier, as Wile E. almost calls it quits. Just when he is about to make the gods pay, the curse of Sisyphus almost forces him to fail again. And Crane tries one last time to bribe Avery to walk away with a lot more money. At this point, though, Avery no longer cares about winning or losing. He has grown past his fear of the gods of big business. It’s no longer about winning or doing the impossible anymore. It’s about making a point, telling them that, even if they lose, they will not hold power over them anymore. Then we get this heartfelt speech where Avery highlights all of Wile E.’s good qualities while Wile E. is there, and it’s super sweet.

The film then gets meta once again as Foghorn is called to testify and is forced to openly admit to Project Sisyphus’ existence. But Foghorn skillfully turns the tables by avoiding the true scope of what’s happened, then points out how all those failures led to better products. For Humans, though. The entire time, Foghorn writes off the very real mental and physical pain that ACME has inflicted on Toons, acting like it doesn’t matter. It’s not stated outright, but if you read between the lines, you can easily see how this could be rewritten to reflect how some people mistreat minorities in real life. And he makes it sound perfectly logical, which makes it worse! All of which culminates in him asking the question from the trailer: “Does anybody in the whole world care about the Coyote at all?”

As a matter of fact, there is.

The Road Runner does Care.

Then we get the emotional heart of the story: who shows up? None other than the Road Runner. He came running to DC after he heard what happened. Somehow, Wile E.’s plan worked! He has the trap all set and ready to go, and Jones’ rules mean that he can’t help but try to catch his nemesis. He is about to let his curse win out again!

But then, something unexpected happens. Avery asks Road Runner if he has witnessed Wile E.’s pain and suffering over the years…and he says yes. All without a hint of his usual smile. And then, when Avery asks if the Road Runner sees Wile E. as a friend, he says yes again. And then he asks Wile E. when he is coming back.

Words cannot describe just how much this moment is supposed to mean for fans of Wile E. Coyote, but I’ll try anyway. He has spent almost eighty years trying to do a task designed to be impossible for him. It had caused him enough pain, suffering, and grief to break anyone else a hundred times over. And even when Wile E. wanted to stop, which I’m betting he probably would have, he couldn’t. He was cursed to be obsessed with getting this impossible goal done, all at the expense of whatever friendships and happiness he could have had. And to hear that the guy he’s been trying to kill has also been the one who cared about him the most? Is it any wonder that hearing the thing that he needed the most was enough to bring Wile E. to tears?

Wile E. breaks the Curse of Sisyphus.

And so, for the first time in his long and sordid history, Wile E. Coyote chooses to break the rules. He gives up his chance to catch the Road Runner and lets him go in peace.

And in that moment, I think that we can say that Wile E. truly won. He did what Sisyphus never could by choosing to walk away, which may have been the whole point. Sometimes the only way to win at something is not to play the game at all.

In the end, Congress declines to pursue a further investigation due to lack of evidence. Meaning that it looks like ACME wins. The gods win yet again, and they can’t resist being able to gloat to the lowly mortal over their victory. But they don’t get away with it.

The last laugh

Fun fact about Chuck Jones’ rules for Wile E. Coyote: they explicitly state that he cannot win against the Road Runner. They never say anything about him winning against anyone else (except Bugs, but he’s a toon god). In fact, as we’ve seen in several other pieces of media (Space Jam, DEATH BATTLE!), when faced with other opponents, he is more than capable of winning. So, as a final act of defiance, Wile E. uses the trap meant for the Road Runner on Crane and Leghorn, trapping them in a giant cage to the tune of “1812 Overture.” AKA the anthem of chaos and anarchy.

It’s not exactly getting the boulder up the hill, but I think it’s something way better: it’s taking the boulder, marching up to Zeus, and proceeding to drop right on top of him like an anvil. All while giving the king of the gods the middle finger. And with that, Wile E. Coyote leaves Olympus (DC) with his head held high. But the story doesn’t end there.

ACME’s victory soon proves to be for naught. When the trio returns to Albuquerque, they’re met by a throng of Toons, all looking to sue ACME. Even better, a certain bunny gave them tapes of Sisyphus’ experiments. Before long, Leghorn and Crane are arrested, and Dr. Lorre is freed. The boulder makes it up the hill. And Sisyphus managed to win against the gods.

Wile E.’s freedom of choice

The film ends on an incredibly heartwarming moment as Kevin and Paige drop Wile E. off in the desert, where he belongs. They say goodbye to him, and Wile E. is reunited with the best friend that he never knew he had, the Road Runner. Thus, the iconic duo returns to doing what they do best: chasing each other.

I know it sounds weird to call this a happy ending. How can it be a happy ending if Wile E. decides to go back to doing a task that is divinely ordained to be impossible? Well, why does anyone do anything considered impossible? Why does anyone do anything meaningful with their lives? Because they choose to. It all goes back to the old saying “life is about the journey, not the destination.” And by finding meaning in the journey, succeeding in making it to the destination doesn’t end up mattering as much. More importantly, though, is the fact that Wile E. chooses to keep chasing the Road Runner. Some divine commandments no longer compel him to do so. He doesn’t have to keep relying on ACME products (and frankly, his chances are better without them). The gods no longer have any power over him. Now, he’s just doing it for the love of the game, and he seems pretty happy about it. And who knows? Maybe one day, he will catch the Road Runner.

The end of the story

When Chuck Jones co-created Wile E. Coyote in 1949, he was trying to create a character that audiences could sympathize with. But I don’t think that he ever intended for his creation to become as beloved as he has. Now, he’s been dead for almost twenty years, so we have no clue if he would’ve liked it or not. However, his daughter and grandson got to see the movie at a personal screening, and they loved it. Indeed, the general audience consensus is that Coyote vs ACME is a great film. At the red carpet premiere, Will Forte told The Hollywood Reporter how relieved he was to hear the film was getting such praise. Director Dave Green has been nothing short of grateful to all the fans who helped Wile E. Coyote get justice. If you stay until the very end of the credits, you’ll see there’s a message to everyone who helped ensure this movie saw the light of day, thanking them.

At the time of writing this, during opening weekend, Coyote vs ACME is already doing a good job at the box office, earning about $14 million so far. It’s only a fraction of its actual budget, but let’s give it time. Hopefully, it will end up making its money back and then some. It would be the ultimate humiliation for David Zaslav if the movie were a financial success, proving once and for all that he was wrong. Even if it doesn’t, though, it doesn’t matter. We still won. We made Warner bros flinch and gave Wile E. Coyote, our modern-day Sisyphus, a win. And they can’t take that away from us.

All right guys, that’s it! The end of this three-year journey we’ve been on! And frankly, I’m glad that it’s ending now before I suffer from burnout and start hating the movie. With that said, I’ve only got one thing left to say besides congratulating all the people who helped make this possible:

THAT’S ALL, FOLKS!

I STILL GIVE “COYOTE VS ACME” a 5/5